Thursday, May 19 2005 19:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Giving its interim report card on the UPA Government's first year in office, the Opposition BJP today (May 19, 2005) said anti-BJPism was the "glue for the coalition's existence" even as it slammed the Communists for "threatening to bite but proving to be toothless".

"The UPA (United Progressive Alliance)'s first year was marked by instances of real CMP (Common Minimum Programme) and ostensible CMP. The ostensible CMP was the one, which received some lip sympathy but very little delivery but it was the real CMP of anti-BJPism that held the Government together. Anti-BJPism resulted in the politics of vendetta and propaganda," party general secretary and spokesman Arun Jaitley told reporters in New Delhi.

Leader of Opposition L K Advani is scheduled to formally release a "list of failures" of the UPA Government on Monday (May 23, 2005) after a meeting of the Opposition alliance, to be chaired by former Prime Minister and NDA (National Democratic Alliance) chairman Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Recalling that UPA had the support of over 340 MPs at the time of its formation, Jaitley said the first to be "disillusioned" with the coalition was the Samajwadi Party with which the Congress is engaged in a "war of words".

"The Bahujan Samaj Party has already denounced the performance of the past year. The Left has now voiced its reservations. It is neither willing to participate in the so-called celebrations nor lend their signature to any self-serving document," he said.

"The Left repeatedly threatened to bite but proved to be toothless. It was willing to pontificate but unwilling to strike. It gave critical support to the Government in the Lok Sabha yet sought to occupy the Opposition space in front of the media," the BJP leader said.